Honestly, I don’t know whether “The Week That Was” refers to last week, while I was on my birthday trip to California — or this week, where between October 29 and November 6, I will have played seven church services, and a Friday night choir rehearsal YOWSERS! I arrived home on Saturday night completely exhausted.… Read More The Week That Was
And in the “Adventures as a Church Organist, episode 813 …” I found an article recently, written by Ashley Danyew, on the skills needed to be a church musician. The skills included: The complete article may be found here: “8 Skills that set you apart as a church musician.”) Let me expound on number 2,… Read More Church organist adventures
There was a complaint, today, on the American Guild of Organists Facebook page, about the extra amount of work it requires for an organist to play for a Zoom service compared to an in-person gathering. After almost a year with zoom church services, I finally realized that I am doing three times the work of… Read More Zoom organists
Along with playing for services, organists are frequently called to accompany choirs. I myself started accompanying choirs when I was fifteen and got my first church job at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Burbank, CA. (I was paid $66.67 a month which included two weekly choir rehearsals plus a Sunday morning service and warmup!) When I entered… Read More Accompanying the choir
The following 44 requirements for being a church organist were posted by Alexandra Fol on her blog: A church organist has to: 1) Function properly at 8 am 2) Be prepared to play in case the choir conductor and the choir do not show up. 3) Know to take initiative if the choir conductor begins… Read More So you want to be a church organist?